


Building Homes (during Hyungwon hours)

by SchrodingersShanu



Series: A Futile Exercise in Brevity - A prompt series where the writer keeps it short (maybe) and lazy (for sure) [2]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: A little bit of side showho for flavour, Entrepreneur Minhyuk, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Freelance Programmer Hyungwon, Hyungwon is a knight in shining armour but a little shit about it, Kinda a sequel to Burning Igloos, M/M, Minhyuk goes through some intense Hyungwon hours, Minhyuk's love interest is Hyungwon's cheeks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersShanu/pseuds/SchrodingersShanu
Summary: Prompt: "Some hyunghyuk established relationship fluff from Minhyuk's pov."Summary: "...but it's the 20% of the time during which he wants to cut Hyungwon into tiny, cute little pieces and gobble him up whole like the cute little bean he is that bothers Minhyuk."Kind of a sequel to 'Burning Igloos' but it's independent of it, so you don't need to read that.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk
Series: A Futile Exercise in Brevity - A prompt series where the writer keeps it short (maybe) and lazy (for sure) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927456
Comments: 23
Kudos: 49





	Building Homes (during Hyungwon hours)

70% of the time, Minhyuk loves Hyungwon.

10% percent of the time, he mildly tolerates Hyungwon and that's all good and jazzy, but it's the 20% of the time during which he wants to cut Hyungwon into tiny, cute little pieces and gobble him up whole like the cute little bean he is that bothers Minhyuk.

It’s sickening and Minhyuk knows that this will be the cause of his undoing.

Minhyuk is sitting on the kitchen table, half working on a presentation while biting into his toast when Hyungwon comes out of their bedroom.

Minhyuk stares at him as Hyungwon shuffles in the direction of the bathroom, his hair a fluffy mess, eyes squinting, wobbly form swaddled in a ratty sweatshirt and shorts.

When he comes back, his eyes are still squinty, form still wobbly, cheeks plump and swollen, looking so, so soft that Minhyuk thinks he is going to die if he doesn't press them between his palms right this moment.

Hyungwon rubs his eyes, expression of a man smelling something vaguely similar to death. He sluggishly shuffles back to their room to sleep more.

Minhyuk bites into his toast because he can’t bite into Hyungwon’s cheeks.

“I love you,” Minhyuk says after him in a soft voice because Hyungwon is still very sleepy and Minhyuk is a lovesick fool but he still knows what will happen if Hyungwon doesn’t get his full sleep.

Hyungwon squints in his direction and nods his head vaguely, bobbing like the bobble-heads in Minhyuk’s black car.

“Cool,” Hyungwon says, voice so thick with sleep that it sends all kinds of wrong signals to Minhyuk which he pointedly ignores, too busy smiling like an idiot at Hyungwon’s back.

***

Contrary to Minhyuk’s family’s belief, Hyungwon is not an angel. He just sits like one in front of them, all polite and shrunk, voice soft and airy and that’s all it takes for his family to think that Minhyuk must have done some great deed in his past life to have a partner like Hyungwon.

It’s sickening considering Minhyuk - while well aware of Hyungwon in all his not-an-angel glory - sometimes finds himself thinking the same thing.

He is fiddling with his fingers in nervousness, standing outside of his office, when he spots Hyungwon’s bicycle. Sighing in relief, he drops his hands and waits for Hyungwon to lock his bicycle and come to him.

His loose hands curl into a fist as he grows a little impatient when Hyungwon does that thing where he slows down when he spots Minhyuk - face sporting a subtle smirk - to make sure that Minhyuk is well aware that Hyungwon is doing him a favor.

Inside his office, Minhyuk is fiddling with his fingers again while Hyungwon scans the screen on the desktop in ominous silence before turning to Minhyuk.

“I’ll need to talk to your programmers, the ones who were responsible for the PHP.”

Seeing Minhyuk’s eyes wrinkling in worry, Hyungwon’s face softens and he takes Minhyuk’s hand, looking around imperceptibly to see if Minhyuk’s little worker bees are staring into his office.

Maybe Hyungwon was onto something when he told Minhyuk to rent an office space that didn’t have glass doors.

Minhyuk looks up at the clock and sees his doom loom closer with every tick of the big hand.

Maybe Hyungwon was again onto something when he suggested Minhyuk to work for more years before starting his own design boutique.

Hyungwon kisses Minhyuk’s hand intimately even though both of them know that all five of Minhyuk’s employees are peeking at them while trying their best to be subtle about it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll solve it way before your deadline.”

Minhyuk feels like crying. This is his company’s fourth project - the biggest one to date - he really should have kept his ambition in check and set better deadlines.

“You have your own project too, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon squeezes his hands once before letting go. His fingers go back on the keys, his eyes glazing with that one-track focus and Minhyuk knows that whatever he says now doesn’t matter.

“I am a freelancer for a reason. I’ll work on mine tomorrow. Don’t worry about it,” Hyungwon dismisses easily.

***

Most of the love stories end when the conflict gets resolved and the protagonist gets together with their love interest in a happy-ever-after kind of way.

When Minhyuk was 20, freshly nursing a string of heartbreaks that at the time seemed bigger than his own being in an all-encompassing way, he used to cynically mutter “and then they break up within a month because..” after every ending.

It was like he conditioned his own brain into thinking that the best moments in any relationship are _before_ ; where you push and pull against each other, where every touch is a lightning bolt, and the air is less oxygen and more the charge between you, followed closely by the first month of a new relationship where there’s a novel thrill in being mutually allowed to push and pull, where you can react to the lightning bolts until they cumulate into a storm, where the air between you is less you and more this warm and bubbly feeling as you relearn each other in a new way.

He used to think those were the best parts and the only bits that love stories should be made of.

Now sitting on a suspiciously old couch that came with the office while eating the food that Hyunwoo, his best-friend and business partner, ordered for them, a 27-year-old Minhyuk thinks it’s a little unfair that there aren’t more shows and movies centered around two people who have been together for a long time, just going through life while existing alongside each other, their love still as strong and fierce as it was in the beginning if not more, their ways intertwined so subtly that even they don’t notice.

He repeats the last sentence to himself again as he observes Hyungwon’s profile while Hyungwon takes out all the pieces of cucumber from Minhyuk’s soup and starts putting them in his, all the while talking to Jooheon on phone about the database that he is currently working on for Minhyuk.

Hyungwon goes through the motions instinctually, almost like it’s built into him by now and maybe it is, just like how it's built into Minhyuk to turn to Hyungwon with a pout, without even thinking, when he smells cucumber in his food.

But today he is thinking and noticing, so he presses his thigh against Hyungwon’s, a movement subtle enough to not get noticed by his employees eating beside them but enough for Hyungwon to quickly put a hand on his thigh and squeeze it in acknowledgment and affection before going back to scanning Minhyuk’s food and talking to Jooheon again.

***

When Minhyuk had first seen Hyungwon - well, his back, to be precise - he had thought: those are some nice proportions.

When Minhyuk had first seen Hyungwon’s face, he had thought: ??????!@ETDR FGUIt7tyy0[ uhyrhcg iwdoij pur koopu%322!!23IK; ‘J80!!!@ ERI?? ?

When Minhyuk had first heard Hyungwon’s voice, he had thought: what a nice voice to be wasted on a rude little shit.

And, all the other thoughts that kept building up in his mind regarding Hyungwon’s body, face and voice before he really got to know Hyungwon could never prepare him for the complete… _something_ that Hyungwon actually is.

Hyungwon has one of those faces and this sort of blankness around his personality before you get to know him that it makes it so tempting for everyone to fill it with their ideal fantasies of what they want Hyungwon to be, whatever fits their narrative.

For Minhyuk, whose first introduction to Hyungwon was unwarranted snark and his own unwarranted attraction, it was easy to think of Hyungwon as pissy and kind of rude in a way that everyone lets handsome and charming people get away with while using words like “honest”, “authentic” and “blunt” to circumvent the word “rude”.

It was easy to imagine him dancing under club lights while looking unapproachable, body moving languidly in a grace that only dancers with dancer limbs can pull off, lips sealed in a cold silence that challenges people, smelling and tasting cold but sharp like crisp cocktails with ice.

It’s so stupid to think of that now as he, Hoseok and Hyunwoo follow Hyungwon’s lead and wiggle their torso with their arms up, bumping against each other and the office furniture.

Hyungwon, leading the change in the room as the song shuffles, decides to shake things up, so he casually moves from his signature sea-weed dance to his signature drunk-uncles-in-weddings dance.

Minhyuk laughs loudly, feeling slap-happy because Hyungwon did it. They submitted the biggest project their company had taken before the deadline. But, more importantly, because - the rings on Hyunwoo and Hoseok’s hand reflects the light in the room - he is so happy for his best friend.

Hyungwon grabs his face and makes him look at him and him only. “Cut me on your sharp cheekbones, you sexy piece of some sexy vegetable.”

Minhyuk laughs. “Your lines are getting better”

Hyungwon turns around and starts making random noises while shaking his hips, Hoseok imitating him with a laugh. One drunk on his engagement, the other on life and some vodka.

When the night draws to a close, Hyungwon stares at Minhyuk, and points at his pouty lips either to ask for a kiss or to tell that he is going to puke. Either is possible when Hyungwon drinks after eating so Minhyuk grabs him by the waist, laughing at Hyungwon easily falling into him. “Time to go home?”

***

When Minhyuk wakes up at 3 in the night, there’s something cold on his head. He tries to pull it away as some shivers rack through his body but a gentle hold on his wrist stops him.

“Hey, it’s just a wet cloth. You have a fever.”

Minhyuk doesn’t listen, doesn’t care. He grabs Hyungwon’s elbow and tugs him down until he is lying beside Minhyuk. He scoots closer and shoves his feet between Hyungwon’s legs.

Hyungwon takes the cue and starts rubbing Minhyuk's arms. “Cold, baby?”

Minhyuk nods, feeling his dry lips touch Hyungwon’s cheeks.

They stay like that for a moment until Hyungwon turns the cloth to the other side. Minhyuk turns in his arms and goes to sleep again.

He wakes up at 8 and feels like it was all a dream because he feels fine if not better than the time he went to sleep.

It isn’t until he sees the bowl of water and thermometer on their bedside table that he realizes it actually happened.

He looks to his other side and finds Hyungwon sleeping soundly, almost on the edge of the bed.

Minhyuk rolls over to him, brushing Hyungwon’s hair back and staring at his button nose, pretty lips, and cute cheeks. It’s out of his control when his fingers start raking through Hyungwon's hair, feeling the softness of those long strands as they slip through his fingers.

Again feeling that familiar need to commit a crime by eating Hyungwon whole, Minhyuk suppresses a groan. It’s not about Hyungwon. It’s about Minhyuk’s relationship with Hyungwon's cheeks.

How do they lift so prettily when Hyungwon smiles so wide and his gums peek and his silver tooth shines?

How do they look so soft and malleable like dough when Hyungwon wakes up or sleeps?

How do they look so tempting to bite and poke and pinch when Hyungwon breathes?

Is Hyungwon for real? What even.

Unable to resist, he gently pokes them and then realizing that Hyungwon is deep in sleep, he starts pinching them.

It’s an act of God that makes Minhyuk climb Hyungwon’s torso. He puts all his weight on his knees, so that he can say that he didn’t do anything if Hyungwon wakes up while Minhyuk is hovering over him like a sleep paralysis beast.

He picks up Hyungwon’s arm and runs those curled long fingers on his own lips, feeling the rough and hardened fingertips against the softness of his mouth. Satiated for an infinitesimal moment, he lets the arm flop down on the bed with a silent thud.

Minhyuk smiles and kisses Hyungwon’s face all over. A little sample tasting doesn't hurt anyone.

“You are a horrible person, Lee Minhyuk,” Hyungwon says, turning his face to the side to escape him.

Minhyuk pouts. Is that what you say to the love of your life the first thing in the morning?

“But, you are really cute. You should stop being cute.”

Hyungwon opens one eye and stares at Minhyuk.

“What do you want?”

“Your cheeks?”

“Ugh. Man, you are going through it.”

Minhyuk nods eagerly. “I am. I really am. It’s sickening. When will it pass? It’s been a day. I have been zooming in your pictures and feeling happy by the action of zooming in your pictures, it’s sickening.”

Hyungwon closes his eyes, cheeks rising as he smiles.

Wow, Minhyuk is actually going to prison for cannibalism! Goodbye, free world.

“Need help?”

Minhyuk nods, bending down to take another bite.

“Call me cute again.”

“Hyungwon is the cutest,” Minhyuk says playfully.

Hyungwon opens his eyes and puts his hand on Minhyuk’s thighs, stroking them.

How is this supposed to dissuade Minhyuk and help him come out of his heart-clenching-knee-shaking Hyungwon hours? Minhyuk doesn’t know or care.

“‘Cute’ is for average looking people who have their moments. I am ‘eternally beautiful’ is what I am.”

Minhyuk gets off him in one go. “Yup, that worked brilliantly. See you during Jooheon’s custody battle.”

A loud giggle follows Minhyuk’s exit and Minhyuk sighs feeling his heart clench and knees shake at the sound.

Another day made of 24 Hyungwon hours.

“I am going to tell my friends that you are obsessed with me!"

Minhyuk turns around to give Hyungwon a middle finger which Hyungwon takes easily with a smug smile, blowing him a flying kiss. "Feeling better now?"

It makes Minhyuk’s heart bloom.

_Sickening. Honestly, sickening._

**Author's Note:**

> aka the fic that makes Shanu happy that most of you haven't seen her face so you can't associate this cheesiness with her. 
> 
> If you would like to read its prequel, just click on the previous work. Cheers!
> 
> To the prompter: Satisfied, m'lord?  
> To everyone: Satisfied, m'lords? 
> 
> Prompt form where you can send your prompts: [A Futile Exercise in Futility](https://forms.gle/Aor76hLtkX19mZFGA)  
> Twitter: [@crankyminwon](https://twitter.com/crankyminwon)  
> Curious Cat: [MellowMinhyuk](https://curiouscat.me/MellowMinhyuk)


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